Why Bones?
by aliii1329
Summary: Oneshot. Mainly a session between Sweets and Booth about the nickname we all love. A little B


Why Bones?

"Look Bones, I don't know why. All I know is that I have to go," the exasperated FBI agent looked at his partner.

"I just don't understand why he only wants to see you," Temperance Brennan looked puzzled. She was trying to figure out the logic.

"Bones, when does Sweets ever make sense? He just told me he wanted to see me, without you. Ha, maybe he needs guy advice." He smirked at the thought of the 12 year old psychologist.

"Guy advice?"

"Yeah Bones. You know… _guy advice_." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down to add to the effect of his words.

She looked at him strangely for a few seconds until it finally clicked. He could practically see the light bulb light up over her head. He shook his head.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Geez Booth, you always have to make fun of the poor kid."

"How can you not?" He smirked.

She shook her head and turned back to the skull on her desk. She looked at it for a few minutes, but she could feel Booth staring at her.

"Booth, do you need something? I thought you were going to see Sweets," she inquired.

"Oh, yeah. Right. Sweets. Okay, I'm going. We're still on for lunch, right?" He flashed her his signature charm smile.

"Yes Booth. Go. You don't want to keep Sweets waiting." She smiled at him and then turned back to her skull.

He nodded and turned to the door. He left her office and continued until he reached the SUV. He hopped inside and headed for the Hoover building. He was kind of worried about this one on one meeting with Sweets. He put it as a joke in front of Bones, but he couldn't figure out why the heck Sweets would want to see him alone. He hadn't shot any clowns lately. He hadn't dropped any serial killers off balconies.

He continued pondering the reason behind the meeting until he pulled into the parking lot. He got out of his car and headed up to Sweets' office.

When he got to his office, the door was closed so Booth sat down to wait. He was only there for about five minutes before the door opened. An older man walked out and Sweets called Booth in.

"Hey Sweets. Let me just tell you that Bones wasn't very happy about being excluded from this meeting." He sat on the couch opposite Sweets' desk.

"Really? That's interesting. I wonder if-" Booth shot him a glare that made him cut off in the middle of his sentence.

"Sweets, it's not interesting. I don't really care about what that means psychologically. I want to know why I'm here alone in the first place." He looked at Sweets.

"Well Agent Booth, I decided that I would like to see you without Dr. Brennan. I don't have anything specific planned, but in case something comes up that you wouldn't want Dr. Brennan here for I felt I should meet with you alone for today. Is that okay with you?" He challenged the older agent.

"Yeah, okay Sweets. I get it." Booth sighed. "So what do you wanna know that Bones can't be here for?"

Once Booth finished his sentence, a question popped into Sweets' mind. He wasn't sure if it would have an interesting answer, but for some reason he thought it might.

"Okay Agent Booth, here's my question. Why do you call Dr. Brennan Bones?"

"Wow Sweets. That was definitely not what I was expecting." He smirked. "I thought it was gonna be a hard question. I call her Bones because; wait for it… she works with skeletons." He made a mocking face at the stupid question.

"Is that the only reason, Agent Booth?" Sweets watched Booth's face change.

Booth paused for a moment before answering. "Well I guess there is one other reason…" He spoke slowly, like he wasn't sure if he should actually say anything.

Sweets made a continue gesture with his hands.

Booth sighed before speaking again. "Well, at first I really did call her Bones because of her work. I mean she works with bones, you know? It was kind of like a duh nickname. I said it once and it irritated her so I kept using it." He smiled a little.

"Then it went from a teasing nickname to a term of endearment. We both got so used to it that it seemed weird if I called her anything else. She was Bones, and that was that. But then I started thinking about bones, not the person, the actual things, and I realized my Bones was a lot like the bones she works with."

"How do you mean?" Sweets urged Booth to continue.

"Well bones are tough, right? They're pretty hard to hurt. And Bones is definitely tough. Heck, she might even be able to take me." He stopped. "That never leaves this room. Bones would be way too happy if she found out I said that."

Sweets nodded.

Booth continued. "So they're tough, but you can definitely break them. And as tough as Bones seems on the exterior, she is breakable. She is capable of getting hurt." He paused for a moment.

"But usually she heals. Just like bones. And everything is pretty much as good as new. But once you break a bone, the evidence is always there. Even 20 years later, if you looked at your bones, you would be able to tell if they were ever broken. Even if everything looks good on the outside, once you go beneath the surface you can tell. Bones is like that, too. She looks perfect on the outside, but if you dig deep enough you can see the damage. It will always be there, just like the evidence of an injury.

Usually, bones are as good as new once they heal. But if you break one bad or enough or you break it more than once, permanent damage can happen. You could walk with a limp or something. And then you look at Bones' relationship with her dad. He hurt her too many times. They're relationship isn't ever gonna be as good as new again."

Sweets looked at him. He couldn't believe how honest Booth was being with him. Usually it was like pulling teeth to get him to say anything. He was opening up, and Sweets decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Anything else?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so. Bones support the weight of your whole body. Without them you'd just be a pile of skin and muscles, you know? And in my mind, Bones is the skeleton of the Jeffersonian team. She keeps them together. Without her, they wouldn't be a team. They'd be separate scientists. She keeps them upright."

He played with his tie for a minute before he started talking again. "Once me and Bones had this case that involved foster kids. We found a dead teenage boy who had been dating a girl in the system. She was missing. And during the case, I told Bones that I had heard foster kids felt like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. I said that I wasn't talking about her, but we both knew I was. She carries the weight of the world just like bones carry the weight of the body. And I'm scared that one day the weight will be too much for her, and she'll end up hurt. Like bones get arthritis and joint problems from holding the body up for so long, I think after awhile Bones won't be able to keep holding the weight she carries with her." He sighed.

"And I don't know how to keep that from happening. If I could, I would take the weight from her in a heartbeat, but I can't. I wish she didn't have to carry those burdens. So I think the best I can do is be there to help her when it happens, and make sure she's not alone."

He had a sad look in his eyes. Sweets knew it was probably killing him that he couldn't help her. He really felt for the guy. Booth protected the ones he loved and the fact that he couldn't protect Temperance from the world probably hurt him deeply. Sweets knew he probably wouldn't actually admit out loud that he loved her, but anyone who saw them together could see it. You didn't need a degree in psychology.

"Is that all, Agent Booth?" Sweets looked at the agent who seemed to have spaced out a little.

"Well there is one other thing." He looked around for a moment and then turned to face Sweets.

"But this is a way that she's different from bones. If you happen to lose a bone, like a leg or an arm, you could get a prosthetic. It replaces what you lost, and you can do pretty much everything you used to be able to. You can walk, run, swim, throw a ball. I mean I know it's not the same, but it's pretty close."

He looked Sweets right in the eye and Sweets knew what he was about to say was important.

"But Bones is _not _replaceable. They could give me another forensic anthropologist, but I would never be the same. I wouldn't be able to do most of the stuff I do now. I don't think I'd be able to do any of it. My Bones doesn't have an "almost as good" replacement… She's one of a kind."

Booth said this with such conviction that if Sweets didn't already know it to be true, he definitely would have been convinced after that speech. He also didn't miss the use of the possessive adjective stuck in front of Bones. Apparently she was no longer just Bones, she was now _his_ Bones.

Sweets knew that Booth had just taken a huge step, so he decided that was enough for the day. He knew if he pushed too much, Booth would stop sharing all together.

"Well, this has been a good session. You're free to leave now Agent Booth."

"Really?" He looked surprised. Then he decided it wasn't worth questioning. "Okay, I'll see you later Sweets." He waved and was out the door.

Sweets spent the next two hours thinking about what they had talked about in their session.

Booth had worked on some paperwork after his session with Sweets. He had a few hours until lunch with Bones. Now he was in the SUV, on his way to meet Bones for lunch. He pulled up to the Royal Diner. He saw her at their usual table and walked over.

"Hey Bones." He flashed her a smile.

She smiled. "Hey."

"So I'm starving. I need some food. Are you ready to order?" He rubbed his stomach in an exaggerated way to show her how hungry he was.

She rolled her eyes. He was so childish sometimes. But it still made her laugh. "Yeah, I'm ready. So what did you and Sweets talk about during your one for one?"

"One on one, Bones, not one for one." He rolled his eyes. "We talked about bones, Bones. Nothing very interesting. Just bones..."


End file.
